How long do I have to repay money I withdrew under the Home Buyers' Plan?

The Home Buyers' Plan requires you to repay what you withdrew from your RRSP over a multi-year repayment schedule set out in the Income Tax Act, with a required minimum amount due back into your RRSP each year until the full withdrawal is repaid. The exact number of years in that schedule is a specific figure set by the Act, so it's worth confirming the current schedule directly rather than assuming a number from an older source or someone else's experience.

What matters practically is that this is a real, tracked obligation, not an informal understanding. CRA keeps track of your remaining Home Buyers' Plan balance and the minimum due each year, and treats a missed minimum repayment as taxable income for that year rather than letting it simply carry forward, which is covered in more detail in a related question. Because the repayment schedule runs for several years, it's easy to lose track of exactly where you stand partway through, so checking your CRA account or your notice of assessment periodically for your remaining HBP balance and current annual minimum is a simple habit that avoids an unpleasant surprise at tax time.